


these are the hands of fate (you’re my achilles heel)

by ZEKAELAS



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Caring Evan "Buck" Buckley, Established Relationship, Fluff, Gen, Hurt Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV), Kissing, M/M, Secret Relationship, Worried Evan "Buck" Buckley
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-03
Updated: 2021-01-03
Packaged: 2021-03-12 17:13:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,886
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28513998
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ZEKAELAS/pseuds/ZEKAELAS
Summary: Bobby mumbled something under his breath. Buck turned back around to look at the building. The fire was spreading quickly.“Cap, I think you need to get everyone back. I have a f—”Eddie stopped mid sentence as the building blew. Everyone ducked as debris flew in the air and hot air blew out of the building.
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley & Howie "Chimney" Han & Henrietta "Hen" Wilson, Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 370





	these are the hands of fate (you’re my achilles heel)

Buck was standing at his locker in the station when someone walked in. He turned to find Hen leaning against the door and just looking at him. 

He raised an eyebrow in a silent question. She only sighed before speaking up, “Everyone wants to know when you’re going to warm up to Eddie.” Buck scoffed before slamming his locker and pushing out the door past Hen. 

“There’s nothing about Diaz to warm up to!” The words felt like acid on his tongue as Buck said them out loud, but he knew he couldn’t take them back. His eyes slowly flittered to the man himself. He was standing in the kitchen talking to Chim and Bobby. 

Hen was suddenly standing in front of him, quickly, he scowled. This only caused her to roll her eyes before sighing, “He’s a great guy Buck! I don’t understand what your problem with each other is.” She was staring at him intently while waiting for a response. 

Buck thought back to last night. Standing in the Diaz’s kitchen with Eddie’s arms wrapped around his middle while he made dinner. It was like he could still feel the fluttering feeling of Eddie’s lips on his neck. It took everything in him to not rub his hand over said spots. 

The team didn’t know about the two being in a relationship. When they had first met they truly didn’t see eye to eye, but after a certain shift, the two were in the locker room together and Eddie had asked him if he wanted to get a drink. Buck had said yes in hopes of getting the crew to back off about him getting to know the recruit. 

Of course, Buck knew Eddie was attractive. Anyone with eyes could see that. It never even crossed his mind that Eddie could think the same of him. When the two ended up in bed together after that night, he wasn’t sure what it meant. Buck had never anticipated Eddie asking him on a proper date, and he sure didn’t plan to like it as much as he did. That had been months ago, and now the two were coming up on their five-month anniversary. 

The two didn’t necessarily inform the others of the developments in their relationship, and they didn’t ask. So they let them continue to believe the two couldn’t stand each other. It was nice, it kept the others from prying in on their relationship. But, it also sucked at times like this when the others would try to convince them to get along, or when they try to set them up with different people. 

Buck soon realized Hen was still looking at him with a somewhat expectant gaze, “I’m sorry, what?” Hen narrowed her eyes at the blonde and seethed. “It’s been months, Buck. What about this guy; has you so wound up?” 

Buck could feel the eyes on him from the others on the top floor, so instead of answering, he just shrugged at Hen and bound past her up the stairs. He greeted Chimney on his way into the kitchen and shot a glance at Eddie, who just laughed. 

Halfway through setting the table the bell went off. Bobby let out a groan and made a grumble about it always being right before food, but didn’t hesitate to make a move towards the trucks. Buck climbed into the truck behind Chim and slid into the spot next to Eddie. 

They quickly arrived on the scene of a burning building. One side of the building was completely ablaze. Bobby made a quick assessment of the situation before barking out orders. “Hen, Chim,” both already looked like they knew what he was going to say “I need you to assess everyone already out of the building, and be prepared to help anyone else we pull out.”

Buck glanced around to see the groups of people standing around the building. He watched as Hen and Chim split to different sides of the crowd and began to take a look at every one. “Alright, Buck, Eddie, I need you two to go in the building and make sure there’s no one stuck inside. But be quick, we don’t know how stable those top floors are.”

The four of them took off running as soon as Bobby was done talking. Halfway to the building Buck heard Eddie call out to him, “Buck!”

The two were far enough from the group for no one else to hear what they were saying. “I don’t like this.” Eddie’s eyes were scanning the building, unease evident in them.

Buck grabbed Eddie’s hand, not caring if anyone saw in that moment. “I know,” he started “but this is our job.”

Eddie squeezed his hand in response before pulling back. “Doesn’t mean I have to like it.”

Before Buck could respond Eddie was already running into the building. He followed his partner's lead. The two found a few people crowded in a room just to the right of the entrance, one of them had a seemingly broken leg and the other two were trying to pull him out. Buck and Eddie automatically took the man from the other two and supported him out of the building while simultaneously making sure the other two were moving forward. 

Once they got the three to Chim and Hen the female grabbed onto Buck’s forearm. “You have to go back! My sister, she’s still up there!” The woman was on the verge of tears, her grip tight on Buck. 

Buck took a look at Bobby, who shook his head, then a look at Eddie, who was practically screaming with his eyes: _Evan Buckley, don’t do what you’re thinking._ Alas, Buck was never one to listen. And the way this woman was looking at him made it hard to not jump back into action. So, he turned around and took off running into the building. 

Somewhere behind him he heard Bobby call out, “Firefighter Buckley!” 

He was already in the doorway of the building when Eddie yelled. “Evan!” Buck knew Eddie only ever used his first name like that when the two were alone, or if he was worried. He always said that the use of Buck’s first name like that was something that seemed intimate, like trading a secret between the two. The use of it almost made him stop, but he remembered that look on the woman’s face, and continued running. 

Buck was making his way through the top floors when he heard footsteps behind him. He turned around quickly, stopping dead in his tracks when he saw Eddie right there behind him. 

Eddie was looking right at him, his expression a mix of rage and concern. “What are you doing?” Buck hissed. The older man just narrowed his eyes and stepped further into Buck’s personal space. “I could ask you the same thing!” He was pointing a finger at Buck’s chest, eyes locked. 

Buck tried to shrink under his stare. “I’m trying to save people! Don’t you dare blame me for that.”

“I’m not blaming you for being a good person, I’m blaming you for not caring enough about your own well being and putting yourself at risk _again!_ ” Eddie shook his head, but moved past Buck.

Buck glared at Eddie as he followed him.

“Well what about you huh?”

Buck almost fell back when Eddie spun around on his heel and stopped abruptly. “I came up here, against the order of my captain, because the man I love did.” And as if he didn’t just drop one of the biggest bombs in Buck’s life on him, he turned back around and started walking again. 

Yes, the two had been dating for a while, but neither had taken that step to say those words out loud. And to hear Eddie just throw it out there like it was common knowledge to everyone, sent a shiver down Buck’s spine. 

Buck was going to say something, anything really, but stopped when he heard someone call out. The sound came from the roof, and Buck had to wonder how the hell someone was up there. 

With one quick look at each other both firefighters made their way up to the roof. Up there they found a woman, who looked to be in her 20s with short blonde hair and brown eyes. Her foot was caught on a jagged piece of floor and she seemed to be struggling. 

“Ma’am, we’re LAFD, we’re going to get you out.”

She nodded. As Eddie made a move towards her Buck kept focus on the flames on the other side of the roof growing. It didn’t look good, and Buck stressed over how close the woman happened to be stuck to the fire. 

The radio crackled and Bobby’s voice rang out, “ _Diaz, Buckley, you’ve got to get back out here. The gas mane blew and the thing is going to blow any second._ ”

Buck looked at Eddie, who finally managed to get the woman free. He ushered her towards Buck. “Go! Go! Get her out of here!”

Buck wanted to argue that he didn’t want to turn his back on Eddie, but the rational part of him knew Eddie would be right behind them. So he grabbed the woman's elbow and led her towards the stairwell, quickly ushering her down and out of the building. Once the two were outside the woman was wrapped in a hug by her sister. Buck turned around, needing to look at Eddie and see for himself that he was okay. The only problem was his partner was nowhere to be seen.

Buck spun around, scanning the whole area. He felt panic rise in his throat. 

“EDDIE! BOBBY, WHERE IS EDDIE?”

Bobby looked up and scanned the parking lot, Hen and Chimney coming to stand beside him, both a little frantic. Buck scrambled to reach his radio. “Eddie? Eddie where’d you go?”

Bobby immediately did the same.

“ _Diaz, come in. Report. Where are you, Eddie?_ ”

A few seconds later the radio crackled to life again. “ _I’m having issues up here, Cap. The roof is falling apart around me. If I move I’m going to fall through._ ”

Buck shook his head. That wasn’t possible, he had been right behind him, right?

Bobby mumbled something under his breath. Buck turned back around to look at the building. The fire was spreading quickly. 

“ _Cap, I think you need to get everyone back. I have a f—_ ”

Eddie stopped mid sentence as the building blew. Everyone ducked as debris flew in the air and hot air blew out of the building. 

Buck stood up quickly, letting out a cry when he saw the whole top of the building caved in. He let out a strangled noise. He was ready to crumple into himself when he heard a scream. 

“OH MY GOD! SOMEONE HELP HIM! I- I DON’T THINK HE’S BREATHING! SOMEONE PLEASE!”

Buck’s head snapped to where the scream was coming from. A woman who had been out of the building before they even got there was standing next to a smashed car, hand over her mouth and shaking. Laying on top of the car was— _Eddie_. 

Buck sucked a breath before sprinting towards him, barely registering his crew following behind. He quickly moved to check Eddie’s pulse. He let out a quick breath when he found it, even though it was weak. 

Bobby pulled him back as Hen and Chimney quickly began to assess Eddie. Buck wanted to say something, but he couldn’t find the words. After Hen and Chim moved him off the car and onto a stretcher they started moving him in the ambulance. 

Buck moved to follow but was stopped by Bobby’s hand on his shoulder. “I know, but we’re still on the clock and we can’t follow him just because he’s one of ours.” 

Buck shook his head and looked back at the doors of the ambulance as they closed. “No you- you don’t understand.” Bobby raised an eyebrow in question, edging Buck to continue. 

But Buck hesitated and then it was too late. Too late to tell Bobby that the man he loved, the same man he had been pretending to hate for months, was being torn away from him.

“ _I came up here, against the order of my captain, because the man I **love** did._.”

Buck felt like throwing up, because not only was Eddie in critical condition and hanging on for his life and Buck was just standing here, but because he had said he told Buck he loved him. And Buck said _nothing_.

By the time they finally got back to the firehouse Hen and Chimney were already there. They both had solemn looks on their faces. Buck jumped out of the truck. 

“Well? What’s going on?”

The two looked at each other before Chimney cleared his throat. “Uh- Eddie was being taken to surgery when we left.”

Buck wanted to scream, because of course that’s all they know. Their job stopped once they got there, there was nothing else they could do. He dropped his shoulders and walked towards the locker room. Avoiding the looks the others sent him. 

After everyone had showered and left Buck was sitting on the bench. He texted Carla letting her know what had happened and asked if she could stay with Christopher tonight. She automatically told him she had it handled. 

After a minute or so Buck heard shuffling at the door. He looked up to see Chim and Hen standing there, closing the door behind them. Hen was looking at Buck with concern, whereas Chim looked more confused than anything. 

“To think, this morning I was questioning why you hate him.”

Buck blinked. “Excuse me?”

Chim looked at Buck and swallowed. “You had us all fooled, you two. Uh- Eddie-” Chim stopped and ran his hand over his face before continuing. “You’re his emergency contact Buck.”

Buck’s eyes widened in realization. The two had made each other their emergency contacts a month or two ago. He wasn’t thinking about it before. 

“Damn. Yeah, well, we did that a while ago.”

Hen nodded before moving to sit next to him. “You guys…” she trailed off, but Buck knew what she was asking. 

Chim squared down in front of him. “Why didn’t you go with him, Buckaroo?” 

Buck felt the tears build up in his eyes. “I- I- I don’t know. The words just got stuck and then you were gone and it still doesn’t even feel real and I ju—” Buck let out a sob. 

He fell forward, Hen catching him and pulling him into her. He couldn’t stop himself from crying anymore. He didn’t know how long he sat there with the two but eventually the door opened. 

Bobby stood there with a look of understanding. “Shift‘s over, just wanted to make sure everything was okay before I let the others in.”

Buck wiped his eyes before nodding. He sat up and grabbed his bag, looking at the three. “I’m uh- I gotta-”

They all nodded. “Go.”

Buck left without a second thought, hopping in his Jeep and driving over to the hospital. Once there he found out the room Eddie was in from the receptionist. 

Buck drew in a breath when he finally saw him. He was paler than normal, and a bunch of tiny cuts littered his face. His midsection was bandaged and there was a sling around his left arm. His leg was raised and in a cast. But even with all that, it was the most beautiful sight Buck had ever seen. 

Quickly, Buck pulled the plastic chair to the right side of the bed. He picked up Eddie’s hand and interlocked it with his. He then placed a kiss on the back of his hand. Using his other hand, he pushed a piece of hair off of Eddie’s forehead. 

The doctors had told him it would be a while until he would wake up, but Buck didn’t plan to leave until he did. 

Buck must have fallen asleep because he woke up to find Eddie running his thumb over his knuckles. Buck sat up quickly and looked at Eddie. Even with the paler skin tone and cuts and bruises his eyes shone brightly and warmly. 

“Eddie…”

Eddie smiled at him softly. “Hello, mi amor.”

Buck felt like a weight was taken off his shoulders. He could breathe now. 

“God, you had me terrified. How are you? How do you feel? I should call the doctor in here.”

Eddie laughed softly. 

“Buck, It’s okay. I’m fine. The doctor was already in here while you were asleep. We’re okay.” 

Buck nodded.

He looked at Eddie again. He was still looking at him, a fond look on his face. Buck placed his hand over his cheek, rubbing his cheekbone. “You had me so worried.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“Thank God for that,” Buck laughed.

Buck leaned forward and pressed their lips together. It was soft and tentative, but everything they needed at that moment. They pulled back and Buck let out a simple whisper.

“I love you.”

It was definitive, a promise.

Eddie smiled at the other man and kissed him again. This time when they pulled apart Eddie squeezed his hand and grinned, “I love you.”


End file.
